The Call Of The Wild
by DirectorCarmichael
Summary: Third installment in the 'Top Of The World' AU. Sequel to 'Not All Who Wander Are Lost'. Peeta and Katniss face new challenges in life, parenting, and the outdoors. Rated T for now.
1. Up Shit's Creek

**A/N: Okay, so here's the deal. After re-reading Not All Who Wander Are Lost (BTW it's really weird reading your own writing), I've come to the conclusion that the current storyline was played out. I really had no more ideas, and I felt I was getting a bit repetitive.**

 **So, after a long conversation with one of my old climbing buddies, I came up with the idea for a third storyline set in the same AU. It takes place two years after the events of NAWWAL. I'll be utilizing flashbacks of their life in Maine, but this story will be getting back to a lot of climbing.**

 **I really hope you guys enjoy this. I might go back one day and write a short epilogue or something, but for right now I'm going to mark Not All Who Wander Are Lost as complete.**

 **Please read and review. Let me know if you like the idea of this story, and if you'd like to see it continue. Unfortunately, I will not be able to write at the pace I used to, but if this story gets enough of a reception I will make an effort to post regularly.**

 **Thanks, and enjoy!**

 _ **Peeta**_

The wind is snapping against the fabric of the tent. We've had to keep our feet up against it at times so it doesn't collapse on us. Katniss thinks it's at least sixty mile-an-hour gusts. I'm forced to agree with her. We're lucky our tent hasn't blown right off the side of the mountain, even with us and all of our gear inside of it.

We've been stuck here for almost a day and a half. The storm snuck up on us and before we knew it, we had to stop and seek shelter. We haven't been able to do much except wait, dig ourselves out so we don't suffocate, and conserve resources.

I'm boiling some snow for water while Katniss, again, takes inventory of what we have. It's not much. Two sleeping bags, one WhisperLite stove with enough gas for a few days, one long rope with various climbing gear, two harnesses, our personal clothes, boots, signal mirror, compass, map, first-aid kit, our knives, one pot, and meager rations.

I hear my wife sigh heavily. We're up shit's creek.

 _ **One week earlier**_

 _Grabbing a mug of coffee for Katniss and a sippy cup of apple juice for Cam, I make my way out onto the deck. The sun is beginning to set, and this is Cam's favorite time of day._

" _There's daddy!" Cam, who's almost two, exclaims when she notices me from her perch in her mother's lap._

" _Daddy better have mommy's coffee," Katniss snarks._

" _My ladies," I say with a flourish as I hand them their respective drinks. "Miss Mellark, have you made sure you have everything you need for when grandma picks you up tomorrow?" I ask Cam._

" _Yes, daddy," she nods seriously, the resolute set of her jawline reminding me of Katniss more and more each day._

" _Good," I ruffle her hair and she giggles._

" _Speaking of, is our gear squared away?" Katniss asks, stealing a sip of Cam's apple juice to the toddler's chagrin._

" _Yep," I smile. "I just wasn't sure about a few items of your clothing."_

 _Katniss returns my smile, understanding my meaning. Even after almost three years of marriage and a still very healthy sex life, I sometimes get a little shy around my wife's more intimate garments._

" _Mommy how long will you and daddy be gone?"_

 _Katniss looks down at Cam, who's still in her lap with her back to her mother, nestled in. Even though her eyes have stayed blue like mine, I can't help seeing a carbon copy of Katniss. Cam has parts of both of us – she's incredibly precocious, but can be a little guarded around new people. She's inquisitive. Sometimes we think she'll never stop asking us questions._

" _Not too long baby," Katniss soothes, smoothing down Cam's unruly brunette locks. "I promise."_

 _Cam smiles at that. In our house, if you make a promise, you keep it. No discussion. Cam knows if she promises us she'll clean up her toys, she's going to do it. If we promise to take her sailing or to go see her grandparents, she knows we'll do it._

" _Where are you going?" Cam asks, this time the question directed at me. We've told her probably a hundred times already, but I can't bring myself to be annoyed in the slightest._

" _Alaska, sprout. Mommy and I are going to Alaska."_

"Peeta, it's boiling over!" Katniss' plea brings me back to the present.

"Shit!" I quickly turn down the gas before we add another problem to our already growing list.

"Where was your mind baby?" She asks pointedly. There's no use denying it, not when she uses that tone.

"Home. Cam," I shrug.

She moves next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and leaning her head down onto me.

"I know," she whispers. "We'll see her soon, Peeta."

"Kat, we're stranded in the Alaskan wilderness, on the side of a mountain that doesn't even have a name. Our radio is broken, we're running out of food, and this storm doesn't look like it's letting up anytime soon."

She lifts her head up, looks at me, and promptly rolls her eyes.

"I know all that," she insists. "We _will_ get out of here, Peeta."

 _ **Katniss**_

This is bad. Really bad. I've been in tough spots on mountains before, but this certainly takes the cake. I know Peeta is freaking out, and frankly so am I. Yet us having a simultaneous meltdown right now won't help in the slightest, so I have to keep him calm. Hopefully if he's calm, I will be too. Hopefully.

I know now why it took us so long to decide to even come here. I mean, I always knew the reason we were hesitant, but it's come into clear focus. After Cam was born, we pretty much stayed around Panem and Maine. We were so busy and, honestly, tired that climbing was the last thing on our minds. We didn't care, our family will always take first priority.

After Cam started to grow up, though, we agreed after awhile that we needed a vacation. Sure, we've taken Cam on trips to Portland to see her aunts and uncles, to the beach, and out on the lake. But Peeta and I needed some time for each other. When I got pregnant with Cam, we hadn't been together for very long. Once she arrived, all of our time was, rightfully, devoted to her.

We knew leaving her, even if it's only for a little while, would be hard. Actually, hard is not an adequate word. It was near impossible. And it terrified me a lot more than I'd like to admit.

Kind of like the first time we left Cam at home and tried to go on a date.

" _Kat, we should get going."_

 _He's right, of course. We're already dressed and my mom is already here, but I can't seem to put down my baby. She's fast asleep in my arms. Peeta is standing in the door to her nursery, leaning against the frame, a small smile on his face._

" _What if she wakes up?"_

" _Then your mom will take care of her," he answers softly. "Come on, we promised ourselves a night out."_

" _I know," I nod, looking down at Cam. I still make no move to relinquish her._

 _After a couple more moments, I sigh and gently put her in her crib, tucking her in with the blanket her Aunt Prim gave her. I place her favorite teddy bear, a present from Haymitch, next to her. Taking one last long look at her, I take Peeta's offered hand and shut the door behind us._

" _I don't want to see you two before midnight," my mom half-teases as we head to the garage._

" _I'll take care of her, I promise," Peeta grins._

" _Oh, I know that," she waves him off with a grin._

" _Mom, sometimes she throws off her blanket when she's sleeping," I tell her for the thousandth time. "And when you're feeding her, sing Jack Johnson or some Bob Marley."_

" _Katniss," she stops me in a well, motherly, tone. "Don't worry."_

 _I nod, even though we all know that I'm going to worry no matter what._

 _I'm silent as Peeta drives to the restaurant, obviously thinking about my baby girl and the fact that I'm not with her._

" _What if she wakes up and we're not there?"_

" _Kat," Peeta tries.  
_

" _No, Peeta, I'm her mother. I'm supposed to protect her. Be there for her."_

" _You are. Nobody doubts that. You're the best mom in the world."_

" _But I just left her! For what?"_

 _Oh god, what did I just blurt out. Peeta's silence is deafening. Finally, after a few tense moments, he speaks._

" _Do you want me to turn around?"_

 _The hurt in his voice is unmistakeable. I feel absolutely awful. I already think I don't give him enough anymore. Most of my time and effort is dedicated to Cam. At the end the day, I'm usually pretty tired, and Peeta always does everything he can to help me. I know he needs this. I know we both do. I never thought it would be easy raising a family, but I never want Peeta to feel the way I know he does right now._

" _I'm sorry," I whisper, reaching over and lightly running my fingers through the hair on the back of his head. "I'm a terrible wife."_

 _Peeta pulls the car into a spot, and I notice we've made it to the restaurant. I'm just not sure if he even wants to eat dinner with me anymore._

 _He shuts off the ignition and lets out an audible sigh. I stay silent. I don't want to dig myself into a deeper hole than the one I'm currently in._

" _I never want to hear you say that again."_

 _His voice is resolute, steely. It makes love and affection and pride and all kinds of emotions swell up inside of me. He's defending me – to me._

" _You are, without a doubt, the greatest wife in the world." I almost scoff out loud and he slightly narrows his eyes at me. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't insult my wife. She happens to be a wonderful wife and an even better mother."_

" _Peeta."_

" _Kat, it's okay," he soothes, grabbing my hand from his neck and intertwining our fingers. "I know this is hard. It's hard for me too, but you're her mother. Your connection is undeniable. It's genetic. Of course you hate leaving her. But we have to start somewhere, right? We have to trust she's going to be okay if she's out of our sight. Plus, I think we got a pretty good babysitter."_

 _He's right, as usual. It is hard, and I selfishly didn't even think about how hard it is on him. He's been so patient with both of us. He never complains when he has to wake up to change or feed Cam. He never says a word when I'm too tired to have sex, he doesn't even ask. In fact, I have to initiate almost all of our lovemaking now._

" _I miss her too." His voice is so quiet I almost don't hear him._

" _I love you." I lean over and give him a kiss on the cheek. "Come on, husband, take me out for a night on the town."_

" _I'm not sure how much action we'll see here in Panem, but I'll give it my best shot."_

After that night, it didn't get easier, but we forced ourselves to take time for us. It was actually a combination of most of our friends and families that urged to us to take this trip. Even though we felt guilty admitting it at first, we both missed climbing. Not only was it our shared passion, it was how we met. Our relationship formed in the tiny confines of a tent and on the tallest mountain on earth.

Now, it's all gone to shit. We have to call upon all of our training, all of our experience, to find a way out of this. At first, we hoped it was just a storm and that it would pass in time. It became apparent quickly that not only do we have to hunker down, we have to go into survival mode to even have enough food to walk out of here alive.

"Peeta?"

"Hmm?" He's brewing me some tea, something we have a fair amount of.

"I love you."

He turns to me, and even in the midst of all this, he smiles and I can plainly see the love in his eyes.

"I love you too."

"Good. Now use that big brain of yours and get us home to our daughter."


	2. Freezing Toes

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews on the first chapter! It motivated me to wake up today and write some more. Honestly, out of all my stories, this one is the easiest by far for me to write. I know it's because of my passion for the subject matter, and I'm incredibly humbled that people enjoy my stories about climbing.**

 **Unless stated otherwise, italics will always be flashbacks.**

 **If you have any questions or comments about the climbing or outdoors aspects of this story, please leave a review or PM me.**

 **Enjoy! Please read and review!**

 _ **Katniss**_

I'm trying to get some sleep but it's just not working. It's probably because I'm in the sleeping bag alone. Peeta is sitting up next to me, just staring off into space. It's probably around three in the morning, and we decided to take shifts sleeping just to be safe.

We figure we have enough rations to last us a few days, a week at the most. The problem is water. We're well above the tree line. The only way for us to hydrate is to melt snow, which is time consuming, uses a lot of gas, and tastes absolutely terrible. Because we only have one pot, it makes the water taste metallic. It's better than nothing, obviously, but it's still quite unpleasant.

Our radio broke yesterday, right before the storm hit. It was a stupid, stupid mistake, and it was all my fault. I decided to play grab ass with my husband, tripped, and fell right onto the radio, effectively crushing it against the rocks. Peeta took a long, hard look at it and declared it dead. Now we have no way to communicate with the outside world, no way to let people know that we're in dire straights. We're not expected back for over another week, so if nobody hears from us, they will assume all is well. I lament the fact that we only brought one radio. It makes me feel like a rookie, like I don't know what I'm doing out here.

Peeta, bless his heart, is trying his hardest to keep up our spirits. As I look at him, however, I can see it's taking its toll.

"Peeta?"

He turns to me and tries to smile. It kinda works.

"Hey, I thought you were asleep."

"The wind's too loud," I nod to the walls of the tent, snapping in said wind. "C'mere." I shuffle a bit, unzipping the sleeping bag from the inside. I hold up the top, inviting him to come lie with me. He stretches out and joins me. I immediately turn into him and rest my head on his outstretched arm, our faces centimeters apart.

"Well this sucks," he attempts to lighten the mood. It works a bit, and I giggle.

"I don't know," I grin. "We're all alone for the first time in a long time." I use my right hand to gently tickle his side. "Kind of reminds me of the North Col."

I know it's unfair, but I really could care less. Bringing up the first time we made love always gets us both hot and bothered. Even though we've now been married for the better part of three years, I still want to jump his bones almost all the time. But that night was different, for obvious reasons. I knew before then I was in love with him. Yet I had no idea the depths of that love, how I could love someone more than myself. Until that night.

"Kat," he sighs.

"Peeta, shut up."

We both need this, if only to relax a little. Maybe having sex while stranded on a mountain is a bad idea. The way I see it, we're not going anywhere in the middle of the night. I can't sleep. Peeta is so worried I'm afraid he's going to age ten years.

I decide to say fuck it. Or, more appropriately, fuck me. I kiss him. Hard. It takes a moment, but he opens his mouth and I dive in. My hand drifts south, under the hem of his cargo pants. After another moment I feel his hand on my breast.

"Are you sure?" He manages to ask between kisses. I'm not letting him up for air that much.

"Yes," I emphasize by blatantly grabbing him under his pants. "It'll help us chill out. Plus, didn't we say it was about time we got around to making Cam a brother or sister?"

"Cam...," he trails off, and I'm losing him.

"Peeta," I stop my ministrations momentarily and am overjoyed when he whimpers a little. "I'm well aware of the situation. I don't see us being able to go anywhere until the sun comes up or the storm passes, right?" He just nods dutifully. "Then shut your mouth and let your wife help you relax. Please."

He opens his mouth to speak but I just kiss him.

 _ **Peeta**_

Katniss was right. As usual. She did help me relax, and at least now she's asleep. I'm lying on my side, spooned into my wife's back. She has a firm grip on my arm that's wrapped around her tightly.

I can't sleep. She made me promise to try after we had sex, but my mind simply won't stop. I'm terrified. A big part of my fear is the fact that Katniss is with me. I'm well aware she's a world class climber and an experienced survivalist. If you ask me, she's the best in the world. But she's my wife. She's the mother of my daughter. If it were only me out here, I wouldn't be so worried. At least I'd know Katniss was with Cam.

I can't stop thinking about our daughter. Every time I look at her, it almost overwhelms me. I thought I could never love someone as much as I love Katniss. Boy was I wrong. While they are very different loves, I know for a fact Katniss and I would do anything for Cam, including laying down our own or each other's lives. I can't imagine how difficult this must be for Katniss. She's an absolutely wonderful mother. She and Cam have such a special bond. When Cam looks at her mother, with their matching grey eyes, I know I've never seen such love and devotion.

" _Daddy_ , _where's mommy?"_

 _We're in the car, Cam in the back in her car seat. I needed to run a few errands, and Katniss is having lunch with her mom._

" _She's with grandma," I explain again. "She'll probably be home before us."_

 _Cam just folds her arms and pouts, reminding me as always of her mother._

" _What's wrong kiddo?" I ask after a minute._

 _No luck. I glance at her in the mirror and she's staring out the window at the lake._

" _I miss mommy."_

 _My heart melts at her pronouncement. It's only been a couple of hours since we last saw Katniss. That doesn't matter to Cam._

" _Me too," I assure her. "We'll see her soon. I promise. In the meantime, would anyone in this car like a popsicle?"_

" _Me!" Her voice is happy and she's grinning._

 _I know it's a cop out, but I'm flying solo. There are some things that only Katniss can fix._

Katniss rustles a bit but stays asleep. I'm grateful. She's tired. We both are.

I lightly kiss the nape of her neck. I don't want to wake her up. I need to figure this out. She's counting on me to get us out of here. Of course, we need both of us, but she has faith in me. I can't let her or Cam down.

 _ **Katniss**_

Cracking my eyes open, I can see that it's daylight. Or at least it would be if we could see five feet from our tent. I'm instantly cold, realizing Peeta has left me alone in the sleeping bag. I turn and see him sitting next to me, intently studying the map. He looks determined, but he's also exhausted.

"Did you get any sleep?" My voice comes out a bit accusatory.

He just shakes his head in the negative. I sigh.

"Peeta, you need to sleep. Come back to bed."

"In a minute," he answers without taking his eyes off the map. "I promise."

He knows that by saying he promises, I'll let up on him.

"Fine," I relent. "What are you doing anyways?"

"The west side of the mountain," he ignores my question. "Kat, I think I can get us out of here."

"What do you mean?" I sit up, scooting closer to him so I can look at the map too.

"Here," he points, "The slope is a lot steeper on the west side, but if we traverse down we can get below the snow line quicker. Then we just follow this river to the road."

He traces the route with his finger on the laminated map. I follow, and understand immediately.

"But honey, that means we'd almost have to summit this mountain just to get to the west side."

He nods sagely. He already knew that. Of course.

"I didn't say it was easier, I said it was quicker," he defends.

"Do you think we can do it?" I ask honestly. He just stares at me.

"Yes."

That's all I need to hear. I trust Peeta. He's my husband. He's my partner, in life and in climbing. If he thinks this can get us home to our daughter, then this is what we're going to do.

I look up from the map at him. Even though his face has relaxed a bit since we have the inklings of a plan, I can easily still see the tremendous worry written all over his usually peaceful face. His blue eyes, usually bright, are tinged with anxiety. I'd do anything to remedy it.

I take his hand in mine and notice his fingers are cold. Way colder than mine, and way colder than they should be.

"Peeta, how do your fingers and toes feel?"

He shrugs.

"Take off your boots," I order. He makes no move. "Fine, I'll do it."

I lean over and grab his right boot first. I unlace it and take off his two layers of socks, then repeat it with his left. I almost have a heart attack when I see the slightest blue tinge at the tips of his toes.

"Baby, you have frost nip. I'm going to need to heat up your toes and fingers."

I'm not looking forward to it. Reheating extremities is extremely painful. Both of us have had to do it before, but thankfully not on Everest. If left untreated, it can easily turn into frostbite, which can result in amputation. Obviously, that is unacceptable.

"Thank god we have a little soap left," I joke as I grab the pot. Since we only have the one, that's what I'm going to use to boil the water. Then I'll dunk his toes and fingers right into the pot. Needless to say, I'll be washing it thoroughly afterwards.

I unzip the door and reach my gloved hand outside, grabbing as much snow as I can. I toss it into the pot and wait.

Peeta knows not to lie down in the tent while the gas is on. Instead, I move so that I'm facing him with his feet in my lap.

"I'm sorry Peeta, but this is going to hurt," I tell him with as much compassion as I can muster as we wait for the snow to boil.

"I know Kat," he nods. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," I scoff. "I love you Peeta, but really?" I'm actually a little mad at him now that I think about it. "Frostbite is the last thing we need right now. I need you to take care of yourself so you can get us the hell out of here. Now, are you dehydrated? Hungry?"

"I'm sorry," he whispers. I can barely hear him over the wind.

"Now we have to sit here and put you through pain just so you can fucking walk," I rant. "If you end up having to get some of your toes chopped off, so be it. Get your dry pair of socks out of your bag, or do I have to do that too?"

He just stays silent. After three years, he knows to let me get it out. He reaches into his bag and grabs his last dry set of socks. He takes his wet ones I just removed and shoves them down the front of his pants to dry them.

"I'm sorry," I blurt out when I can't stand the silence between us any longer. "I'm not mad, baby, I promise." I look up at him and our eyes meet. I don't see hurt or anger in him, just love. "I'm just scared."

"I'm sorry too," he says, lowering his head a bit. "It was stupid of me. I got caught up in trying to figure this out that I didn't take care of myself. Now it's up to you to fix me."

"You know I don't mind being your nurse," I smile, getting one in return. "But can we keep it to cuts and bruises from now on?"

"I'll try," he nods solemnly. We both chuckle.

The snow finally melts and boils. I turn the gas off and let the water sit for a few moments. I don't want to replace frost nip with third degree burns.

"Okay baby, here we go," I warn as I lift his right foot up, ready to dunk it in the hot water.

"Ahhh!" He yells when the pain registers.

"I'm so sorry," I try to soothe him. "It's only for a little while."

I remember back to the first time I had frost nip. The expedition doctor had distracted me while she reheated my limbs. Maybe that can help.

"How many more kids do you want?" I ask. His eyes are closed, his face scrunched up in pain, his hands balled into fists at his sides. "Peeta! Look at me." He opens his eyes. "I said, how many kids do you want?"

"That's not really up to me, is it?"

I roll my eyes.

"I can't make a baby by myself, Peeta Mellark."

"Doesn't it also depend on how many Nan and Alice have?"

He's got a good point. Much to our husbands' chagrin, Alice and I were not joking about our 'battle of the babies'. Right now, we're tired at 1-1, Alice giving birth to a baby boy just five months ago.

"Well, yeah," I admit with a grin. He hasn't even noticed I took his right foot out of the pot, put a new sock on it, and stuck his left foot in. "But I'm honestly curious. How many?"

"I don't know," he shrugs. "Two more? Maybe three?"

"That's it!?" I'm only half-joking. "Am I really that unattractive to you?"

"Oh you're plenty attractive to me," he almost purrs. "It's just, well, you can get kind of mean when you're pregnant."

"Peeta Mellark!" I smirk. "In case you forgot, you're the one that got me pregnant in the first place, so it's really your fault."

"Kat, that makes no sense."

"No shit. I don't have to make sense. I'm the wife."

"Fair enough."

"I want at least three more," I defiantly state. "I want to have a full house."

"Then that's what you shall get, m'lady."

The distraction works. After awhile, I finish warming up his toes and fingers. He's still in a ton of pain, that's clear to see, but he's being so brave about it.

"Get in the sleeping bag," I tell him once I'm completely finished. He complies immediately. I crawl in with him. I sandwich his feet between mine, and take his hands and shove them down my pants.

"Whoa, Kat, I don't think I'm up for this right now."

"Shut up, I'm just keeping you warm."

He grins and kisses me before nuzzling his head into my neck.

"Don't worry though," I assure him, "you'll get your due reward for being a brave boy."

 **A/N 2: I used my own experiences of getting frost nip (multiple times) and frostbite (twice) for this chapter. I can't begin to explain how painful it is. First, your fingers and toes go numb. Then when you reheat them, all the blood rushes back and it makes you want to chop them off. Miserable. Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed!**


	3. Going For It

_**Peeta**_

I really do have an awesome wife. We're nestled in the sleeping bag. My feet are still firmly tucked into hers, and I can tell they're still nice and warm. While one of my hands is still down the front of her pants, my other one has drifted north and is firmly grasped onto her breast. Her head is tucked into my neck, and I can feel her breath tickle my skin.

I think again how dumb I was. If Katniss hadn't noticed my hands and feet getting cold, I could easily have gotten frostbite. That's a big enough problem on a normal expedition. Stuck in this tent by ourselves, it would have been a disaster.

She was absolutely right to get pissed at me. I'm actually still pretty pissed at myself.

"Mmm," Katniss moans softly.

I grin and kiss her on the ear.

"I don't remember putting your hand there," she whispers without moving, her eyes still shut.

"Can't help it," I whisper back. "Remember when you got pregnant?"

"I don't think I'll ever forget that," she grins, backing her head up a couple inches so she can look at me. She steals a quick kiss.

"No, I mean your boobs," I clarify, fondling her a little bit for emphasis.

"Oh, you mean how I had to buy all new bras?" She huffs. "I remember, Peeta."

"Sorry," I shrug, not meaning it at all.

She just laughs and kisses my cheek.

Both of us notice that there seems to be a little more sunlight penetrating the tent. While the wind hasn't died down yet, maybe the storm has abated a bit. Katniss peeks her head out the door for just a second.

"It's a lull," she confirms. "Should we go for it? Do you feel up to it?"

"I know it might sound cliche, but I think it's now or never Kat."

She nods and we go to work. We're going to need fuel for our bodies, so while I start packing and preparing our gear, she makes us some hot tea. We drink it and eat a couple PowerBars we'd been saving. She also melts some snow so we can have at least a little water. We don't know where or when we'll stop. We don't use too much gas, we have to conserve that.

Finally it's time to gear up. We put on all the warm clothes we need, including warm wool hats and multiple mitten layers. The last items we don are our harnesses. I check hers to make sure it's tight, double-backed, and safe. She looks over mine in turn.

We decide to use a short rope while we try to hike. We're going into unknown terrain – sure, we have a map, but that only gives us elevation and topography. I'm not taking any chances with Katniss. We'll only have about ten feet between us, but even that makes me a little apprehensive.

Eventually we're ready to step outside and pack the tent up, the last thing we need to do before we leave. There's still cloud cover, but it's not as dark and gloomy as it's been the last few days. The wind is still a huge factor. It bites at any exposed skin. We quickly realize this and don our balaclavas. Once we put our goggles over our eyes, our faces will be entirely covered. We put our helmets on, tightening down the chin straps.

"We're going to have to use hand signals," I tell Katniss while we finish packing up the tent into our bags. I almost have to yell even though I'm right next to her. We sling our packs on and I grab the rope. We tie in using figure eight follows through knots. Once again, we check each other's knots, harnesses and gear thoroughly. We make sure our ice axes' leashes are firmly around our wrists.

We're ready. I look at my wife and pray silently that my plan will actually get us out of here.

 _ **Katniss**_

It's cold. Fuck, it's cold. At least the tent gave us some shelter, and having two people in our sleeping bag kept us fairly warm. Now we're completely exposed.

After he tells me he loves me, Peeta turns and begins kicking steps into the fresh, untouched snow. I stare at his retreating form for a few moments until I begin to follow. I notice he's taking extra care with the steps, not making them too far apart. His legs are longer than mine.

I can't even imagine what it would be like if I had to do this without him. I'd be terrified. I am scared, of course, but I also know that he will do anything it takes to get us home to our daughter. I inherently understand that he would gladly sacrifice his life for me if it came down to it. In our situation, it's not that far fetched of an idea. One of us could fall, potentially taking the other one along for the ride. There are deep crevasses we could fall into. Right now, they're mostly hidden by the deep layer of snow. There are cliffs. There's always the possibility of avalanches.

I shake my head. I can't think about that right now. We will survive. We have the best motivation of all waiting for us.

" _Daddy, stop!"_

 _Cam's sweet voice drifts up from the surf. I lift my head up off the sand and squint. Peeta is chasing her, telling her he's going to dunk her in the water._

 _We're on the beach on Peak's Island, which is about a twenty minute ferry ride from Portland. We drove down early this morning from Panem for a family day. Prim is lying to my left, and Alice is to the left of her. Nan and Rye went to get us some drinks from the local convenience store up the street._

" _She's getting so big so fast," Prim notices. I know she doesn't get to see her niece as much as she'd like._

" _I know," I smile, not taking my eyes off my baby. "Now I've got two toddlers on my hands."_

 _Prim snorts, and Alice outright laughs. Peeta freezes, Cam upside down above his head, and looks up the beach at us._

" _What's so funny?" He asks._

" _Nothing sweetie," I grin. "Just commenting on my babies."_

 _He cocks an eyebrow at 'babies' plural. He brings Cam down, propping her on his shoulder, and whispers conspiratorially with her. She smiles and nods enthusiastically. Next thing I know, Peeta jogs a little bit into the water before dunking them both under the cool Atlantic water. Walking out of the ocean, he strides casually towards us, Cam failing to hide her smirk._

" _We need to dry off, right Cam?" Peeta asks as they near._

" _Yup. Mommy! We need help!"_

 _Before I can react, they've reached me, and Peeta promptly places/drops Cam right onto me, both of them soaking me immediately._

" _Peeta!" I almost scream in surprise. "That's cold!"_

" _Sorry ,mommy," Cam says, sitting atop me, triumphant._

" _No you're not," I accuse with a matching grin. "And you," I point up at my guilty husband. "You're in trouble, mister."_

 _Cam claps, always ecstatic when her parents are acting goofy, which is admittedly a lot of the time._

" _Cam, go get your Aunt Prim wet," I ask politely._

" _Kat," Peeta tries._

 _Cam eagerly vacates my lap and almost tumbles over onto her aunt. As soon as I can, I hop up off my towel. Peeta, easily reading my plan, has already started in a sprint towards the water._

" _You'll never catch me!" He yells over his shoulder._

" _Who's going to win, Cam?" I hear Prim ask her as I run after my husband._

" _Mommy!" Cam answers right away. "Mommy always wins!"_

 _That's my girl, I think to myself as my feet touch the water._

That memory feels like a lifetime ago. I concentrate on every step, never setting foot where Peeta already hasn't. Even though we're trying to just survive, I take a moment to marvel again at how good of a team we make.

Suddenly Peeta raises his fist in the air, signaling me to stop. After a moment, he waves me forward. It only takes me a few seconds to reach him.

"What is it?" I ask.

He just points, and I gasp.

Directly in our path is about a hundred foot drop. We saw that there was a steep elevation change on the map, but we had no idea it was a sheer cliff. Peeta struggles to take out the map and look at it. There's really no way around it if we want to stick to the plan, which we had agreed was our only option.

"Get the rope out of your bag," he says after a minute.

He doesn't need to tell me anything else.

We're about to repel down this icy, snowy, cliff, in forty mile-an-hour gusts.

 _ **A/N: So, they've began their journey home. I really enjoy doing the flashbacks, so if anyone has any ideas of a scene they'd like to see, PLEASE let me know!**_

 _ **I've only had to use a short rope a few times, and it's always a bit unnerving. Usually, when I've mountaineered, rope teams consists of four people. Having only two people requires a ton of trust. If one person goes down, it's up to the other one to save them. Whenever I've been on a four person rope team, we used hand signals. There's usually about thirty feet of rope between us, so the last person on the rope is ninety feet away from the first. Instead of yelling, it's just easier to use your arms and hands to communicate.**_

 _ **Please read and review! In the meantime, I'm going to go eat some hummus, tahini and pita. Be well.**_


	4. Cams

_**Katniss**_

I get the rope from my bag. It's the longest we have. I start to unravel it while Peeta figures out a way to anchor it.

"I think ice screws are out of the question," he tells me.

I nod. I figured as much. In our general vicinity, at the top of the cliff, there's only snow and ice.

"Give me a cam, honey," he asks. I reach to the back of my harness and hand him the first cam I feel. He searches for a crack and after a moment finds a suitable one. Inserting the cam, he frowns, or at least I think he does. "I need a smaller one," he hands it back to me. I look at it to see what size it is and turn my head so I can see the rest of the cams hanging off my harness. I find the next size down and give it to him. He carefully inserts it into the rock and it engages. He attaches a carabiner to it and tugs, making sure it's secure.

We unite from the short rope and Peeta puts it in his pack. Peeta grabs the end of the rope I unfurled and threads it through the carabiner attached to the ice screw.

"Is that p-cord still in the top of your pack?" He asks me.

"Yeah," I turn so he can access it.

He unzips the top of my pack and roots around for a second before finding the cord. He quickly cuts off a few feet and hands me it, holding a similar length in his hand.

"Tie a Prussik," he instructs. Genius. A Prussik is a hitch that, when attached to the rope, allows you to pull yourself back up. It's painstaking work, but it's a good back up plan for right now.

I know he's going to insist I go first. It's just who he is. I can't really argue with him about it, and right now, that's a pretty stupid idea anyways. He's stronger, so it'll be easier for him to lower me down. Once I'm down onto a ledge we spotted, I can untie from the rope, tie into my Air Traffic Controller, and belay while he repels. It makes the most sense.

"Tie in, Kat." I knew it. He's holding out the end of the rope to me. I take it and tie another figure eight follow through. He double checks it. "Ready?" He asks.

"I'm ready, baby," I assure him. I reach up and tug down his balaclava, doing the same quickly with mine. I lean up and kiss him. "I love you." I don't need to tell him I trust him. He knows.

"I love you too," he smiles.

He takes the other end of the rope and threads it through his ATC. When he gets all the slack behind him, he puts tension on the rope so I can feel it. I back up towards the edge of the cliff. As I near the precipice, I look him in the eyes. Or, rather, the goggles. I simply nod.

As he begins to lower me down the side of the cliff, I use my feet to walk down the wall. Looking down, I can see the ledge we saw about seventy feet below me.

"You good?" I hear Peeta yell from the top.

"Yup!" I yell back. "Keep going!"

After a few more feet, the cliff cuts sharply inward and I'm left dangling in mid-air. The only thing keeping me alive right now is my husband on the other end of the rope. Yet I'm not worried. Not about that.

 _I reach behind me, feeling for my chalk bag. Once my hand is powdered up, I use it to grab the next hand hold, careful to keep three points of contact on the rock._

 _We're about an hour from home. This is a fairly well known are for rock climbing, so Peeta, Finnick, Annie and I decided to come practice and relax. Peeta is on belay, and Cam is sitting on Annie's lap, staring up at me._

" _Tension!" I call out to my husband. He tightens the rope and I feel the slack taken out. I need to put in another cam. Unlike most of the climbers here, I'm lead climbing. That means that as I go up, I'm manually putting in the protection against me falling. Everyone else is using top-down protection, which means the rope is already anchored at the top of the rock and belayed from the bottom. We wanted the extra challenge._

 _I use my fingers to search out an appropriate crack. Once I've decided where, I snag a cam off my harness. It's a bit of a reach to where I want to set it. I'm about to put it into the slight crack when my left foot slips just a tiny bit. That causes a chain reaction, and before I can process what's happening, I'm falling. I let go of the cam and it tumbles through the air. After a second, I feel the rope catch, and I swing hard towards the rock face._

" _Oof!" I yell when I hit it._

" _Mama!"_

 _Cam's voice pierces the air. I glance down and see her. She's stood up out of Annie's lap and is trying to run towards the base of the face. Finnick, thankfully, reacts and scoops her up._

" _I'm okay!" I reassure them, but mostly Cam. She's not convinced._

" _Mama!" She cries out again, tears rolling down her face. I look to Peeta and he's worriedly glancing between his wife and his daughter. He's cinching down tight on the rope, making sure I don't move another inch._

" _Baby," I call out, realizing I'm speaking to both Peeta and Cam. "Mommy's okay. I promise. Peeta?"_

 _He doesn't need further explanation. He knows from the tone of my voice._

" _Right, coming down," he nods. He slowly begins releasing tension on the rope and giving me slack. I quickly rappel down and am on the ground in seconds._

 _Finnick waits until I've untied from the rope to let Cam loose. Once she's free of her uncle's grasp, she runs towards me at full speed. I crouch down and catch her deftly, standing up with her in my arms._

" _Off belay," I whisper over her shoulder at Peeta, who's joined us in our embrace._

 _ **Peeta**_

I slowly feed out the rope. I can't see Katniss, but the tension on the line reassures me that she's still there. I'm trying not to think about the fact that her life is in my hands. Not only is she my climbing partner, but she's also my wife and the mother of my daughter. I don't need to see her to know that's she dangling mid-air, all of her weight on the rope.

"Keep going baby!"

From the tone of her voice I know everything is okay. I smile briefly when I remember that, just a few hours ago, she said the same three words to me in our tent. Only that situation was much, much different. It involved no ropes and a lot less clothing.

Suddenly I feel slack in the rope. I wait for her to confirm that she's made it to the ledge.

"I"m down!" She yells up. "Your turn!"

Now we both need to switch our roles. Katniss will untie herself from the rope and attach it to her ATC. I will do the opposite, releasing the rope from my ATC and tying in.

"Ready!" She calls up.

"Ready!" I confirm back.

She takes out the slack in the line and I feel the tension. I have complete, absolute faith in my wife. I back up towards the edge of the cliff and begin to walk down, butt first, facing the rock. Once I get a little comfortable, I push away slightly using my feet and Katniss simultaneously feeds some rope through her belay device.

"One more jump and then the rock angles away!" She informs me.

Working together seamlessly, I'm almost to the ledge in no time. She has to lower me down the last twenty feet. When I'm standing next to her, I can't help but grin.

"Off belay," I tell her before we do anything else.

"Belay off," she dutifully replies.

"Come here often?" I joke as I untie the rope from my harness.

"First time," she shrugs. "You wouldn't know of a good place to get a steak around here, would you?"

"Kat," I groan. "Unfair." She knows how hungry I am.

"Sorry baby," she says, not sounding sorry whatsoever. "Just giving you incentive to get us back to the world."

"You're my world," I tell her seriously. "You and our daughter."

"Oh, Peeta."

She reaches over and kisses me soundly.

"The sun's going to be down soon," I remark when she finally lets me breathe. "We need to find a spot to spend the night."

She nods as we go to work. While I carefully pull one end of the rope so we can retrieve it, she gets the short rope back out of her bag and ties into it before grabbing me by the front of the harness.

"You're not going anywhere now, mister," she declares as she tugs up on the knot she just tied to my harness.

"Honey we've been together for literally the past week straight," I point out with a grin.

"I know," she looks up at me, "but even having you at the top of that cliff was too far."

I feel utterly compelled to kiss her again, so I do.

The next part of our trek is still difficult. I wanted to try and make the tree line by tonight, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. We're forced to traverse the next big steep snow slope, working our way tirelessly in a zig zag pattern down. I'm not willing to risk either of us getting injured by going any quicker. I lead most of the time, as the fresh snow pack is harder for Katniss to kick steps in.

Eventually we reach a small, flat area that is somewhat protected from the wind. We're still really close to the summit – my watch reads the elevation at 14,678 feet.

"Good enough for me," Katniss says as she kneels down and takes her backpack off. "I'll set up the tent. You get some water boiling."

"I can do the tent," I protest.

She doesn't turn to me, but I know the look on her face.

"No."

From three years of marriage, I know there's no use in even attempting to argue with my wife. Besides, we have more pressing issues, and Katniss is as capable as anyone. I grab the stove out of my pack and the pot out of hers. She begins assembling the poles, and reaches into my bag to get the body of the tent.

"Peeta, what's this?"

She's right beside me as I kneel in front of the stove so I turn my head to look at her. She's holding a small laminated photograph she just took out of my backpack. I know exactly what it is. It's a photo I took about a month ago. I had gone onto the deck of our house in search of my family. I found Katniss in a chaise lounge, stretched out. She was wearing sweatpants and an old white tee shirt stained with paint from when we painted Cam's room. Cam, wearing an almost matching outfit, was sprawled on Katniss' chest and stomach, her face resting gently on her mother's shoulders. Both of them were fast asleep, so I took the opportunity to snap a picture.

"What? That's nothing," I deflect, a little embarrassed.

"Peeta," she warns.

"I know it's stupid," I begin. "I know it's stupid because you're right here with me, but I wanted something to remind me what's waiting for me back home. I wanted to be able to look at my girls."

I guess I've rendered her mute, because she doesn't say anything. She just stares at the photo, tracing the outline of our daughter's face with her gloved finger.

"I'm pregnant."

She says it so quietly it's almost lost to the wind.

"Wha – what?"

"I'm pregnant." Now she looks at me, tears springing up in her grey eyes. "You're going to be a daddy. Again."

 _ **A/N: Uh oh! How's Peeta going to react to his wife being pregnant in this situation?**_

 _ **Thanks as always for the reviews! They keep the keyboard clacking.**_

 _ **I wanted to write that flashback not only to show the mother-daughter bond, but also to show that climbers fall. A lot. I can't count the number of times I've fallen. It's all part of the adventure, and helps you build resilience. There's one dude that never falls though – Alex Honnold. YouTube him. He climbs the biggest rock faces in the world (El Capitan and Half Dome in Yosemite, i.e.) with NO rope and NO protection. He's, well, insane.**_

 _ **As always, if you have any questions or comments, please review or PM!**_


	5. Yesses

**A/N: Okay, so this chapter is shameless Everlark fluff. If you've read any of my other stories, you know that this is my favorite. This entire chapter takes place in one location, and it's mainly Katniss and Peeta talking about the bombshell she just dropped at the end of the last chapter.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW! I hate hate hate begging for them, but they're one of the only ways I know that people are enjoying and want me to continue. For everyone who has read and reviewed, THANK YOU.**

 **My parents are visiting from the States tomorrow, and I haven't seen them since November, so I don't know how much writing I'll get done the next week or so, but I'll give it my best shot.**

 **As always, ENJOY!**

 _ **Katniss**_

"You're pregnant?" Peeta asks again. I roll my eyes.

"Yes, I am pregnant."

"How?"

"Really?"

"No, I mean how do you know?" He clarifies.

"I have done this before," I deadpan. "I took a pregnancy test the day before we left. Then I took another one to be sure."

I hold my breath waiting for his reaction. When I found out, I didn't know what to do.

 _Oh boy, I think to myself. That's a plus sign. Yup, definitely a plus sign. It's the second test I've taken._

 _I'm pregnant. Again._

 _We're supposed to leave tomorrow to go to Alaska. If I tell Peeta right now, there's no way he'll let us go. He'll go into super protective daddy mode, and probably will have trouble with me even wanting to leave the house, never mind go climbing._

 _But this isn't my first pregnancy. I was incredibly active when I was pregnant with Cam, sex notwithstanding. I know what my body is capable of, and I am absolutely positive I can do this trip._

 _I'm fully aware that if I wait until we're back to tell him, he'll be peeved with me. At least we'll be safe and at home where he won't have to worry. Well, he'll still worry, that's inevitable, but hopefully he won't have to as much. What I have no doubt about, however, is how excited my husband will be when I tell him we're adding to our family._

 _I need to talk to someone, and luckily Peeta is in town running last minute errands. Cam is taking a nap. I go out onto the deck overlooking the lake and dial Prim's number._

" _Hey sis," she answers after a ring._

" _Hey little duck." My voice has more emotion than I thought._

" _What's wrong?" She immediately picks up on it._

 _I let out a sigh. Might as well come out and say it._

" _I'm pregnant."_

 _There's a moment of silence before I hear a girly squeal._

" _Katniss that's amazing! Congratulations! What did Peeta say?"_

" _That's the thing Prim," I explain. "If I tell him now, there goes our Alaska trip."_

" _Well I assume you're not that far along, right?"_

" _I think so," I answer. "I feel fine. I was late, so I figured I might as well check. I took two tests. Both positive."_

" _Well as a doctor, there's no medical reason that you can't go." I let out a relieved breath at that. "You're in peak physical shape and you had no major problems with your first pregnancy."_

" _And as my sister?"_

" _That one's tougher Katniss. Obviously it's up to you what you want to do. Look, I know my brother, and he's going to be over the moon when you do tell him."_

" _I don't want to lie to him," I state firmly, more for my own benefit than Prim's. "But we need this trip so much. We've been looking forward to it for so long. I don't want to ruin that."_

 _I realize my eyes are getting misty, and I lament the inevitable onset of pregnancy hormones again._

" _Well what are you going to do, Katniss?"_

 _I don't really have an answer for that yet._

 _I end my call with Prim and let the tears flow. It's a weird cry – half anxiety, half unending joy. It's really starting to sink in that I'm actually pregnant again, and I couldn't be happier. Yet I have this dilemma hanging over my head. I huff out a long sigh._

" _Mommy?"_

 _I turn and see Cam in the doorway, her eyes still full of sleepiness._

" _Hey baby. How was your nap?"_

 _"Okay," she shrugs as she toddles to me. I scoop her up and bring her to my chest, wrapping her tightly in my arms. "Why are you crying mama?"_

" _Don't worry," I soothe, kissing the crown of her head. "I'm not sad. I'm just so happy."_

" _Okay," she says much more brightly. "Do you think grandma will make me waffles?"_

" _I'm sure she will," I laugh, tickling her sides. "I'm going to miss you so much, baby girl."_

" _Me too," she nods. "I love you, mommy."_

" _I love you too, Cam."_

Peeta's hand curling around my waist brings me back to the present.

"We're having another baby?" He half-asks in awe.

"Yes." I'll repeat it as many times as he needs me to.

"And you didn't tell me because you knew I'd never let you leave the house."

"Yes." It seems to be the word of the day.

Peeta is silent for a moment, and I let him think.

"Can you finish setting up the tent?" He finally asks. "I'll get something ready to eat."

"Okay," I nod, not really sure of his mood. "Peeta?" He turns to look at me. "I love you."

"I love you too Kat."

 _ **Peeta**_

I'm still in mild disbelief as I watch her thread the tent poles through the fabric. On one hand, I'm absolutely ecstatic that we're having another baby. Cam has brought us so much joy already, I can't wait to share that with another perfect mix of Katniss and me. On the other hand, I'm fully aware that she admittedly kept this from me, knowing what my reaction would have been had she told me before we left.

As I think, I look over our meager rations and start to freak out. We barely had enough for two of us before, and now there's three. Rationally, I know Katniss can't have been pregnant for very long, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to do everything I can to make sure her and our baby are healthy and safe. I decide we need the energy, so I dump in the last of our pasta when the water is finally boiling.

I'm so deep in thought I don't notice Katniss has finished setting up the tent, including moving our gear inside, until she's sitting next to me again.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, close to my ear. "I should have told you. You have every right to be angry."

The pain in her voice breaks my heart. I can't stand to see her in any kind of pain, physical or emotional.

"I just knew how much we needed this trip," she explains further. "I love Cam, and I love the life we've built, but we needed a little time for just us. We agreed on that. I didn't want to lose that. I was planning on telling you when we got home, but I figured considering the circumstances..."

"You did what you that was best for us," I finally tell her. "How can I be angry at you for that? Yes, if you'd told me before I would've fought you about coming here. But you're right. We needed this."

"You're really not mad at me?" Her voice is almost childlike.

"No, baby," I assure her. "You know why I could never be mad at you?"

She just shakes her head.

"Because you're carrying my baby. Our baby."

"So you're happy?" She asks hopefully.

"Kat," I grin as I wrap my arm around her and tug her close to me. "We may be in the middle of nowhere on some random mountain with almost no food, but I wouldn't trade this moment for anything. I can't believe how happy I am. We're having a baby." It finally completely sets in. "Kat! We're having a baby!"

"There it is," she teases.

I really am happy beyond words. Sure, I wish the circumstances were different – that we weren't out here, trying to survive. I really can't find it in myself to be angry with her. She made a decision, and it's in the past now. I can't really afford any time dwelling on it or ruminating about it. We have much more important issues to deal with right now.

"So, pasta for dinner?" She breaks the comfortable silence between us.

"Yup," I nod. "And no arguing. You're eating the lion's share."

"Peeta," she begins, but I cut her off.

"No, Kat. You need to take care of the baby, and in order to do that, you need to take of yourself. Don't worry, I'll get enough to eat. Besides, after what you just dropped on me, I'm pretty sure I'll be running on pure adrenaline until we get back to Maine."

"Okay," she concedes, kissing me on the cheek.

We eat, and it's not half bad considering the meager portions. Afterwards, we hunker down in the tent, drinking tea and snuggling for warmth.

"Do you want a boy or a girl?" She asks me.

"As long as you and the baby are healthy, I don't care," I answer honestly. "What about you?"

"I want to give you a son," she states firmly. "A son to carry on your name. A son who will look just like his father. A son you can teach to treat women the same way you do."

"You sure about that?" I reach over and jokingly grab for her breast.

"Down boy!" She swats my hand away. "You know what I meant. You make me feel like a queen and Cam like a princess every day."

"Well that's because you _are_ my queen and she _is_ my princess. And I can't believe you're turning me down," I grin. "If my memory serves, when you were pregnant with Cam, you were insatiable."

"Don't worry buster," she teases me back, "you'll get your on-fire, pregnant wife back soon enough. I just think we should go over the plan for tomorrow first."

"If we must."

"We must, baby, we must."

"Kat?"

"Hmm?"

"We're having another baby. Real or not real?"

"Real, Peeta. That will always be real."


End file.
